Is there annual variation in the diet (food) quality of moose?
Yes. The nutritional quality varies seasonally. Generally, spring and summer diets are 1.5 to 3 times more nutritious than winter diets. Summer foods contain excess digestible energy and protein. Winter diets are usually insufficient in nutrient quality to meet basic maintenance requirements. Thus, moose lose weight over winter. Did you know that moose droppings change with diet? Research shows that in summer a moose’s diet consists of fresh leaves and aquatic (water) plants with the end product being a “loose moose dropping”. But, during the rest of the year they eat dry shoots and twigs and their droppings become the familiar and well loved “trail nuggets (pellets)” . How many “trail nuggets” can a moose produce? During the nine months when moose eat mostly dry twigs, the average moose produces 380 nuggets per day, or more than 11,000 per month. Each moose is responsible for producing about 100,000 nuggets per year!! MOOSE FACTS Pedicles are bony outgrowths of the frontal bones that
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